Thursday, October 11, 2007

I should not have had to travel five hundred miles to find them, but there they were, a few onion-netted bags of them, tossed alongside the other potatoes I had come to purchase. Scott and I had stopped at a supermarket in Freeport, Maine, on our way home from vacation last month, specifically so I could find the famous Maine potato I coveted for inclusion in a recipe for New England clam chowder. I got my five-pound bag of local round whites, but I also got my bag of baby blues.

You wouldn’t think much to look at them; they are homey and homely like most spuds. But these aren’t ordinary spuds; these bumpkins, each small enough to hide in my clenched fist, are the sapphires in the crown of the nightshade family. Cut them, and they will bleed blue much the same way a beetroot bleeds magenta, revealing a flesh of deep and daring violet-indigo glistening with the sweat of its own dye.

A novelty, to be sure, blue potatoes are not as much a rarity in produce departments as they used to be. Yet they have eluded me for years. Cipolline onions, I could get my hands on; bizarre, robotic green cauliflower, I snatched up months ago; but not those little blue baubles. The stars must have been aligned in the sky just right that evening. Call it karma.

And karma calls for a celebration. These potatoes are too special to serve casually and quickly after a hard day at work, when all you want to do is feed yourself and flop in front of the TV. No, they are too festive and dramatic for that, but they are ideal for a great occasion, a Sunday dinner, a birthday, an anniversary, perhaps. Yes, an anniversary.

Weekend Herb Blogging, conceived by Kalyn Denny of Kalyn’s Kitchen, is celebrating its second anniversary this week. There are so many bells, and whistles and fireworks, you’d think it was the Fourth of July. Favorite vegetables enhanced with favorite herbs have been called in from the virtual caterers. Blue potatoes are made to order.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Cover bottom of natural finish skillet with heat-resistant handle (cast iron works best) with the oil. Cut potatoes into quarters, add to skillet and toss to coat with oil. Position skillet on middle rack of oven. Roast potatoes for 20 minutes. Turn off oven heat. Stir potatoes and keep them in oven another 10 minutes. Stir potatoes one last time, then transfer to a serving bowl, tossing the rosemary and salt mixture over them. Serves 4 --

This post is being submitted to Kalyn Denny of Kalyn's Kitchen creator of Weekend Herb Blogging, celebrating the second full year of her very popular food event.

Please stay tuned for next week's round-up #105, which I am privileged to be hosting.

I'm waiting for the day they'll be available here - but that wouldn't be a very environment-friendly day, I suppose (after travelling all those miles). This is one veggie I've come to know about solely through blogs. I can't get over potatoes being blue/purple.

Wow, the really do remind me of beets--what an amazing color! The most unusual thing I've seen around here lately are Saturn peaches. And I was told that ugli fruit is back in vogue (we read Eating the Alphabet in storytime this week). I'll need to try it!

I've never seen potatoes like this! The color is quite amazing. I bet they taste wonderful with the rosemary salt. I'm nearly out of that and need to make more soon! Thanks for helping us celebrate the two year anniversary!

I haven't tried these beauties yet. I even saw them in my local public market. They always lose their precious color once cooked. Thats a turn off. How did you manage to keep the color? BTW, Nice souvenir you've got :D

Susan, I've never seen those potatoes here. That color is so beautiful! At first I thought they were beets. I have tasted blue potatoes chips somewhere, don't know where but it would not taste the same, would it?I would love to try this out some day.:-)

I love me some blue potatoes. In fact, we just ate them tonight! My farmers' market has a beautiful variety of potato types: multiple fingerling varieties, different colors, bakers, roasted and mashers, so I have the opportunity of potato-experimentation frequently. I also love roasting them with rosemary. Thanks for encouraging your readers to reach beyond the more ubiquitous Yukon Golds and russets.

Sylvia – Thank you. The potatoes sure are cute, so small yet colorfully feisty.--Hi, Maryann. Good luck! I’d be curious how long it will take to run into them. I’d like to serve them again, so I’m really going to keep my eyes peeled.--Sra – I fear a blue potato would certainly turn green after making the journey. Even though I’ve seen, prepared and eaten these, it is still hard to believe they are real. A particular naturally occurring pigment, anthocyanidin, is responsible. It's the same pigment that colors grapes, berries and some other produce. --Shn, you are adorable (and funny), you know. Thanks for the vote on the recipe. Sometimes the simplest preparation is just enough. No absence of flavor, either. These weren’t spicy, but delicious nonetheless, mellow and nutty.--Hi, Rahama. Saturn peaches have been available in my area for years now. Their shape is pretty cool, but there are other white peach varieties with better flavor. Nothing beats the novelty of them, though. I’d love to try ugli fruit. I hear the juice is sweeter than a grapefruit, a combination of many citrus flavors. --Hi, Kalyn. The color is true, too. I didn’t manipulate it with Photoshop. I never actually expected to find a recipe for rosemary salt (too simple), but there it was! Happy to be part of the party!--Suganya – The secret to maintaining the color is not to boil or overcook them. They will also loose color quickly if they are peeled and the exposed flesh is washed. My first choice was to make French fries, but after soaking the peeled strips to remove the starch before frying, the color faded a lot, but the water was quite blue. Whatever blue was left after frying was totally obscured by the golden crust. I agree, that grey-blue color is dingy and unappetizing. --Hi, Toni. They are groovy, aren’t they? They’re great eating, too, but it’s hard to stop staring at them.--Thanks, Truffle. The color really is riveting, and there is no sacrifice of flavor due to the mutation, either.--Sandeepa – I’m not against retail therapy, it’s just a choice of merchandise. : D Thank goodness we went by car. Who knows if they would have let us on a plane with these. !!!--Thank you, Terry. I’ve loved rosemary and salt on roasted potatoes for years. Blue is a nice treat, but spud for spud, all varieties taste great this way.--Hi, TBC. I’ve had blue chips, too. I love them. Terra brand makes all kinds of funky chips, including blue. I think they taste different, but I guess only a blind taste test would tell for sure. : )--Lucky you, Christina! Your bounty sounds marvelous. I can’t even imagine having such choices unless I slept in Union Square Market overnight to ensure first dibs when the stalls open in the morning. Yukon Golds are ubiquitous, but I love their waxy, dense flesh for mashing. --Welcome back, Patricia! Blue certainly isn’t considered a typical edible color, unless we’re talking about Smurf snow cones! : )--Hi, Katie! They do retain their color if cooked carefully (as I noted above to Suganya). Somewhere, in even a more remote area of France than where you live, someone is growing blue potatoes. Where exactly? Ah, there’s the rub…

Wow, they are quite dramatic indeed!I've never come across them before. They do deserve special treatment...and you've given them just that... by keeping them simple for their natural beauty to shine through.

I don't buy these potatoes very often but I do love their dramatic color! Here in France they are called the vitelotte and sometimes the truffe because they look a bit like truffles. The best way I ever had them was in a very creamy purple purée, but your recipe looks lovely too.

I have never tried these potatoes. they look like beets. must be tasting the same as regular ones right?BTW About you doubt regarding the clarified butter, the milk solids get settled in the bottom as brown residue. You have to skim out the clarified butter which is easy.

Susan, lovie - We almost prepare our potatoes the same way, except I throw in fresh rosemary and salt at the beginning of the roasting process, so the potatoes become quite dry on the outside. I see yours look lovely and moist. And I have never seen blue potatoes. What a festive color with which to celebrate two years of a great blogging event.

Thanks, Sunita. They are drama queens, aren't they?--Rosa - Thanks. I'm sure the purée was delicious, but I was wary to overcook the color out of them. --Sharmi - These potatoes taste the same as others, but some, myself included, think they have a smooth nut-like flavor, too. Thanks for letting me know about the butter. Our methods are different, but the goal, the same.--Hi, Shaun. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, to shop and prepare these. You haven't seen blue potatoes before? Well, next time you're in CA, you are going to have to stay longer and spend more time at the farmers markets. --Kelly-Jane - They could fool you. The skins are a dull, brownish blue, not brilliant like the inside flesh. Hope you find them. Meantime, rosemary and salt are great for any potato.

Lucy - They truly were sapphires in the rough. I had a hankering for them since your Food in Film entry.--Simona - Rosemary seems to be the BEST herb for flavoring heavy starch. I love it with beans, too.

Hi, Lauren! Thanks for the kudos. I found these blue potatoes by accident while traveling 800 miles from home. Upscale farmers markets or supermarkets may be your best bet, although you might even be able to find them online; some growers of produce will ship.

Very good recipe to try when youre eating blue potatoes for the first time - My husband and I picked some up at a local farmers market - I would adjust the salt content to your liking - We will be purchasing more blue potatoes next Saturday

Well I am in Australia and have just scored a big bag of them. Doing the above recipe tonight. Here they are called Saphire Blues, but they can also be deep yellow cream inside instead of the purple/blue. The Purple blue coloured one's are the original potato, the one's that is a dark yellow/cream inside are the one's bred in America the original blue is the one that has been eaten for hundreds of years.

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